According to the Susan G. Komen foundation (www.komen.org), approximately 178,480 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in American women this year.

Several ways are available to show your support this month. If you missed the Walk For Hope in San Francisco on Oct. 13, you can run in the Komen Fresno Race for the Cure on Oct. 27, If that works up your appetite, grab some Yoplait yogurt and mail in the pink lids to raise money for the Komen foundation. If you feel like dressing up, buy a pair of pink ribbon slippers or a pink bracelet for $2 at Payless Shoe Source where a percentage of the sales will go towards breast cancer research. And to go along with that, you can also celebrate in National Pink Hijab day by coming to school in a pink hijab or scarf on Oct. 26.

This past week, Student Body Council held the school’s first Breast Cancer Awareness event, according to event organizer senior SBC president Carter Chung. “Throughout the week we collected donations and gave pink ribbons to people who donated,” he said.

Chung understands the importance of raising breast cancer awareness after his mother was diagnosed a few years ago. “My mom got diagnosed during the early stages, so we were able to detect it and act upon it earlier, and now she’s pretty healthy,” Chung said. “I think it’s important to inform people about beast cancer because it is so preventive.”

During the week, SBC officers informed students by distributing stories of survivors via tables on the catwalk and by speaking in registries about how students could get involved and help make a difference.